


1940's Mentality

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [128]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Internalized Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 10:03:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2647901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Steve is homophobic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1940's Mentality

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually ship Stucky, but I hope I did this ship justice.

Bucky and Steve stood by the window, watching the people as they paraded by with their rainbow flags and picket signs, promoting and being genuinely  _proud_ to be a part of the LGBTQA community.

"This is outrageous." Cap muttered under his breath.

"Something the matter, Captain?" Phil asked from behind them.

Both Bucky and Steve turned to face the man. Bucky looked as uncomfortable as he felt and Steve was just  _frowning._

"Can’t we do something about this?" Steve asked Phil, walking around the man to sit on the couch in the living room and taking the remote. Phil gave Bucky a raised eyebrow and Bucky shrugged before he too, sat on the couch but strangely not next to Steve. 

Steve turned to the news station where the pride parade was being broadcasted live. “They’re everywhere!” Steve complained, growing more and more annoyed the longer he watched.

"Are you talking about the parade?" Phil asked because this was not how Steve usually dealt with things he didn’t understand.

"No. Not the parade." Of course not, Steve wasn’t that type of- "I’m talking about these  _people._  It’s one thing to be gay and hide it. It’s another thing to act on it and actually be  _proud_  of it. These people are disgusting.” Steve ranted before he turned the TV off.

The thing was, both Steve and Bucky came from the forties so it was perfectly understandable for them to be uneasy about the things that changed in the 21st century. But this was  _not_  what Phil had expected.

At the very least, Phil expected the good Captain to be open minded about how things worked in the future. Not whatever  _this_  is.

Steve turned to Phil and looked him up and down before grinning at him. “You look nice today. Date with your wife?” He gestured to Phil’s ring.

Phil’s jaw tightened before he smiled at Steve - fake and forced. “Husband, actually. Clint and I are on our way to join the parade.”

"You and Clint-" Bucky started.

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?" Phil asked both men tightly. 

Phil saw Steve’s expression turn from happy to uncomfortable to disgust to anger and suddenly, Phil felt nauseous just being in the same vicinity as his hero.

"Excuse me." Phil told them before walking away.

Correction, ex-hero.

—-

Phil took down the last poster he had of Captain America. The others were already ripped to shreds and burning inside the largest pot he found on the veranda. 

He was about to plunge his pocket knife into the smiling face of his hero once upon a time when Clint came through the door.

"What the  _fuck_? Phil! What are you doing?” Clint asked as he jogged over to Phil. “I was waiting for you at the parking lot and then JARVIS goes and alerts me that you’re destroying your stuff! What happened?”

"Nothing. Just a little self epiphany type thing" Phil turned to him before he raised his knife and plunges it unto the canvas, giving poster-Cap a slit right on his forehead. Phil dragged the knife, ripping the poster into bits. "Turns out, I’m not a fan."

Phil stormed off and looked for the ceramic Captain America figure he kept in a closet for safekeeping. Before he managed to smash it to pieces, Clint stopped him.

"Wait. Let’s talk about this." Clint tried to calm him.

Phil frowned and threw the figure on the ground with more force than necessary, breaking it into a million tiny pieces. “There’s nothing to talk about. He is a closed-minded homophobic asshole! I can’t believe I idolized him for one second, let alone a lifetime.”

At his husband’s words, Clint felt his blood boil and stormed out of their room in search of their leader. He found Steve in the training room, beating the life out of the punching bag. Clint didn’t miss a single beat and headed straight for Steve.

"Okay. What the fuck is your problem?" 

Steve paused, panting. He turned to Clint with a frown “Excuse me?”

"Look, I don’t care if you can beat the living shit out of me or anything but whatever 1940’s mentality you have going on, you should have left it back there! The future isn’t what you thought it is, boo-fucking-hoo. Who the fuck gave you the right to judge these people? They’re obviously not hurting anyone and all this whole  _thing_  is doing is proving that what assholes like you think don’t and won’t matter. Not now, not  _ever_  again.”

Clint didn’t wait for a reply, he stormed back out of the training room.He’d said his piece and he didn’t care what happened now. Whatever Steve believed was his own decision, Clint just wished Steve would accept them.

That wasn’t too much to ask for right?

—-

"Clint, I need to talk to you." Bucky caught his arm. Clint stared at the hand clutching his arm and gave Bucky a raised eyebrow. Bucky quickly let go. "Sorry, I- I just really needed to talk to you."

"If you’re going to give me bullshit about-"

"No. No it’s not- I just- I want to know." Bucky bit his lip in an obvious display of uneasiness. "about the gay thing."

—-

Steve knocked three times before he opened the door to Phil’s office. “Sir? May I- May I speak to you?”

Phil kept his face straight and looked up from his screen. “Is this a work-related matter or-“

"It’s more of a personal thing, actually."

"Then I’m afraid I can’t take a break right now, Captain. If you would, find me again later after work hours and maybe we can resol-"

"I have! I’ve been trying to talk to you for days!" Steve ran a hand through his hair "I’ve been- I wanted to-" Steve sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I wanted to apologize. It’s true. I was- I am an asshole for thinking that way. I should have been more understanding and I- I wasn’t. I was wrong to judge people for their sexual preference. and I just… I wanted to tell you I’m sorry."

Phil stayed silent for a moment, trying to process what Steve said and the sincerity of it because right now, it was possible that Steve was just trying to save the team dynamic. He appreciated it, of course, still sincerity would be welcomed.

"What made you change your mind?" Phil asked.

"I- Bucky talked to me. He told me that he’s bi. And I just- I mean, people can be assholes regardless of sexual orientation. And they can be pretty great too. I just- I can’t regard someone as lesser than me just because of one factor. Bucky, he- he made me realize that."

Phil nodded, finding the Captain’s explanation sufficient enough. “That’s nice to know Captain. Thank you.” Steve gave him an uneasy smile and Phil gave him a sincere one, at which point Steve’s smile grew warmer. “So, Bucky finally told you, huh?” 

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled a little. “Uh… yeah. I was quite surprised, as you would imagine, but I think I took it better than I would have before Clint talked to me.”

Phil nodded again. “That’s good to know. If you ever need any recommendations for restaurants that-“

"Like a date? With uh- with Bucky?"

"Yes. I believe that’s where your relationship is heading?"

"No! I- It’s Bucky! He’s my best bud. Of course- I mean, He couldn’t possibly- right? I mean, what would he even see in me? I’m just- you know, me. right? Unless of course- no, it can’t be. Right?"

Phil simply raised an eyebrow at Steve. The blond man’s smile was grew slowly but it was genuine. 

"I’m sorry, Phil- I- I have to- I mean, sir. I have to- Bucky."

Phil shooed him without another thought and Steve was gone just as fast.

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/103138239821/there-was-an-anon-who-sent-me-multiple-prompts)


End file.
